1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to a mooring device for mooring a ship and comprises a base, a movable arm construction supported by the base, and at least one magnet mounted in a frame, which frame is supported by the movable arm construction.
2. Description of Related Art
Such a mooring device is known from WO2010/053368. According to this citation the mooring device is placed ashore and is used for moving the magnet to the ship's hull and mounting the ship to the quayside. According to one of the aspects of the invention the mooring device can however also be mounted on the ship, wherein the magnet is connected to a magnetizable fixture onshore. The mooring device can also be used for connecting one ship to another ship. The magnet to be employed can be either permanent, semipermanent or it can be an electromagnet.
Although the mooring device known from WO2010/053368 is devised to be flexible with a view that the surface of the ship's hull need not be perfectly perpendicular to the mooring magnet surface to take care of the fact that most ship hulls are by nature of non-planar design, it is found that the degree of flexibility achieved with the known mooring device is insufficient in real life. It is therefore a first object of the invention to improve the known mooring device. Secondly it is an object of the invention to accommodate the mooring device to higher degrees of irregularity in the ship's hull than is possible with the prior art mooring device. The third objective of the invention is to provide a mooring device which is easier to handle and which has improved versatility in its use. These and other objectives will become apparent from the following disclosure of the invention.